ECB Didn't Change Interest Rate

ECB Didn't Change Interest Rate ECB did not change the interest rate. The European Central Bank (ECB) kept the policy rate at 0 percent. The long-awaited European Central Bank (ECB) meeting is finally held today. During the meeting, it was decided to keep the policy interest rate at 0 percent, the marginal funding rate at 0.25 percent, and the deposit interest at minus 0.5 percent.   In addition, the ECB did not make any changes in the pandemic bond purchase program. The ECB raised its Pandemic Emergency Procurement Program (PEPP) by 600 billion euros in its two previous meetings and the asset purchase program reached 1.35 trillion euros. Although decision makers were hopeful about a recovery after the economic crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, the recovery began to slow down. Analysts stated that there are new risks due to the increase in the number of cases worldwide. On the other hand, the possibility of strengthening the euro to put pressure on inflation is also emphasized. According to economists, the ECB may increase bond purchases as the end of 2020 approaches. Besides, the attention turned into a press conference where ECB President Christine Lagarde will make evaluations on the issue. Lagarde is carefully expected to announce the ECB's decision and its new roadmap for growth and inflation. The ECB had predicted a contraction of 8.7 percent for the Eurozone in June 2020.